Dozens of student gamers gathered at the Cultural Arts Building Lounge on Feb. 24 for a video game tournament hosted by the Student Activities Board.
The tournament was originally scheduled to take place midway through the event, but many attendees became absorbed in casual matches, delaying the official competition.
Attendees had a variety of video and tabletop games to pick from, including Mario Kart 8, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, and FIFA 19 on Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation, as well as tabletop games like Uno, Heads Up!, and 5 Second Rule.
Madden Mughal, an architecture major, was among those playing casually. He joined a friendly Mario Kart session with three others, separate from the tournament itself.
“I didn’t really have any expectations,” he said. “I thought there’s going to be a bunch of people with different skill levels in different games.”
Mughal also found the competition friendly and accessible for gamers of different abilities. He thought the skill gap was not too large, suggesting there was a mix of experienced and casual players in attendance rather than a gap between the most and least skilled competitors.
Like Mughal, mechanical engineering major Karla Reyes joined the event as a casual player and enjoyed playing Mario Kart with new people.
“It’s my third semester at Montgomery College, and I’ve never had the chance to participate in any events. I noticed that it was a gaming event and decided to participate for the first time, and I definitely want to do it again,” Reyes said.
Mario Kart was a familiar game to her, one she had grown up playing with her brothers. Although she hadn’t played in years, she enjoyed the chance to revisit it in a group setting and felt she did well despite the experienced competitors.
According to Reyes, her races were filled with laughter as the group playfully encouraged, competed, teased, and launched last-minute attacks on each other, making the experience even more enjoyable. She hoped to race with them again in future events.
“Every match, there was always a person in front of me. Just when he was close to winning, I would ruin his race! I don’t know how, but it happened in every match—it was very funny,” she said.
As casual matches stretched into the evening, SAB organizers adjusted the tournament format in the final minutes due to the delay. Instead of the planned elimination-style bracket, the competition concluded with a single Mario Kart race where digital art major Olukayode Fagbemi emerged victorious.
“I ain’t gonna lie, even though there were changes, I just felt like it was good to vibe out,” Fagbemi said. “I liked this.”
Fagbemi looked back on what drove him to compete, with a personal motivator pushing him forward.
“Funny thing is, I got good at Mario Kart just out of satisfaction because some of my friends would say, ‘Oh, I can beat you at Mario Kart.’ So I had to prove them wrong,” he said.
With more than 30 attendees, students suggested expanding game options and expressed interest in more gaming events on campus. Fagbemi and Reyes specifically brought up Super Smash Bros. as a game they would like to see featured in future tournaments.
“I was expecting more stuff like Smash Bros. and maybe a little Splatoon,” Fagbemi said, “but also some of the mainstream games people are playing now, big competitive games such as Dragon Ball.”
“I think something I would like to see in future events is for them to include other games like Smash Bros.,” Reyes said. “That would be great.”
Tomas Mekonnen, a computer science major and SAB member, hoped the event would give students a chance to unwind and take a break from academic pressures.
Mekonnen said, “Just have fun and have a good time.”
